For years children have been asking me about myself: what I was like as a child, if I had brothers and sisters, if my mum and dad split up, did I have any pets. Then when I became the children's laureate, there was talk of somebody else doing a biography of me and - call me a control freak - I wanted to do it my way, and very much aimed at children, because they are the ones who read my books.

You've mentioned Enid Blyton's book about her life before. Was that an inspiration?

I read it several times over. I read the chapters she wrote about how she went about her writing very seriously. I'm not her biggest fan in the world but she did turn on goodness knows how many to reading. In the last few years of her life, she had lost the plot, which is perhaps a slight warning to all of us who are prolific to slow down a bit.

You describe your childhood as being unhappy. Why?

My parents were not in a happy marriage, so there was a great deal of tension within the house, but there were birthdays, fun days out and things like that. It's just that there were always huge rows and one never quite knew when the next row was coming.

You describe your father as having an "unpredictable rage". Were you scared of him?

Very scared - even as an adult.

How would you describe your mother?

She is a highly eccentric and original woman. She's 84. She very much has her own way of doing things and never doubts that her way is the right way, which is fine if you fit in with it, not so fine if you don't.

Do you ever wish they had split up?

I used to long for them to split up, but in those days, in the 1950s, you didn't even say divorce out loud. It was considered very shameful.

Divorce plays a big part in your books. Does the high divorce rate make you angry?

I think it's sad, but then I'm divorced myself.

How much do you think your relationship with your father affected your relationship with men in general?

I don't think it had a knock-on effect. I had boyfriends of very different types. People say that girls want to marry their daddies and I certainly didn't want that.

Why is there a sense of sadness, or loneliness, when you write about childhood?

I was on my own a lot and I truly don't remember feeling lonely. Like many only children, I rather liked my own company.

Were you pleased to have been an only child?

I would have liked a sister. I begged my mother to have another baby but she looked at me as if I'd asked her to boil her own head.

Do you wish you'd had more children?

At the time I would have liked more but I'm so close to my daughter now, maybe that would have taken away the intensity of our relationship.

Do you feel stuck in your childhood?

It's as if there's a way back to my childhood for me. I'm not necessarily any better at handling children than anybody else but I do feel I understand children. It doesn't mean I adore every single one, but I do feel that there are lots of things about childhood that interest me or mean something.

By writing about children are you giving yourself the childhood you wish you'd had?

Perhaps I'm writing the sort of books that I wanted as a child. I wanted more urban grittiness.

What do you think about your books being banned?

I was astonished that a headteacher has banned Vicky Angel. It's actually a very sad book, but you can't please everybody.

Your best-known character, Tracy Beaker, lives in a care home. What would you change about the care system?

I think we should recruit more people willing to be foster parents. The sad thing is it's a difficult job. How many of us have the time and the patience and the resilience to make a good job of it?

There have been reports recently that British children are the least happy in Europe. Do we fail our children?

I think most parents do take parenthood seriously and try very hard to please their children. I think all of us just want to muddle through the best we can. I wouldn't know where people are going wrong; maybe our teenagers are just a bit more articulate in moaning about their lot in life.

Your parents were quite puritan. Did you rebel?

I did leave home early - I was 17 - but that was with my parents' blessing.

How do you feel when you read reports of how fabulously wealthy you must be?

I wish it were true. It's very odd. People see JK Rowling and assume that if you are high-profile children's author you're in a similar position. I certainly earn far more money than I ever dreamed possible, but give or take a lovely house for me, a nice house for my daughter, a few treats for friends, money there in case I gently lose it myself and need a nursing home, there's not huge wads of money. I'm very small beer compared with actresses and rock singers.

· Jacky Daydream, by Jacqueline Wilson is published by Random House Children's Books, priced £12.99. To order a copy for £11.99 with free UK p&p go to guardian.co.uk/bookshop or call 0870 836 0875.